It started here, with you

April 1, 2024April 7, 2024 admin

Catina Noble

It’s been over thirty years since I first picked up a copy of the Sandy Hill neighbourhood newspaper, IMAGE. I was thirteen. I sat in my room with the paper, going through it page by page. I was interested in a variety of articles. I remember reading each author’s first and last name out loud for the article they wrote. I wondered what it would be like to see something in the paper and read my name out loud as the author.

By this time, I had been keeping a journal for a year. I wrote in it every day, sometimes more than one entry. I loved writing. I wrote poems and ideas for stories. I wrote about how, when I got older, I would become a writer; how I wanted to see a book in a bookstore with my name as the author. I knew I had to start somewhere. What if I could get something of mine published in the local newspaper? As soon as that idea took hold, I was hooked. It was all I could think about.

I even started practicing my signature in case I was asked for my autograph. It could happen, I told myself. On a whim, I wrote a letter enclosing an original poem of mine, I dropped it off at IMAGE newspaper. It’s been so long, I cannot remember the name of the poem.

Imagine my surprise when I saw my work, in print, under Katey Noble. Katey was my nickname growing up; I now write under my given name, Catina Noble. Over the next few years, I would go on to write several articles and have more of my poems published by IMAGE newspaper. The paper will always be near and dear to my heart. Being published in this paper is what gave me the motivation — and courage — to reach for my dreams of becoming a writer.

It’s been over three decades since my very first piece of writing was published in IMAGE.

I have gone on to be published in a variety of magazines and books, including but not limited to: Woman’s World Magazine, Chicken Soup for the Soul: Reader’s Choice 20th Anniversary Edition, Perceptive Travel Magazine, Canadian Newcomer Magazine, Chicken Soup for the Soul, Your 10 Keys to Happiness, Y Travel blog, Bywords, The Mindful Word, etc. I am now the author of thirteen books, including two poetry collections.

A big thank you goes to the staff at IMAGE, who helped foster my love of writing and who, by doing that, set the foundation of my writing career.

Copy-editors’ note: We thought it would be fun to find out who “the staff at IMAGE” was 30 years ago. We contacted long-time editor Jane Waterston who remembers that Hilary Russell, the editor at the time, was thrilled to get a submission from a local teen. Copies of a few issues from 1994 listed Hilary as managing editor. Contributing editors were Jane Waterston and Francesca Worrall. Jane also managed the advertising. Other people involved with production were Denyse Mulvihill, Ann Archer, Pramod Mehta, Launa Gladwin, Claire MacDonald, Cecile Pierchon, and Hedi Worrall. With photographers Dan Grant, Peter Lindell and John Wenuk.